Making comfort food for friends in need

Wednesday

Nov 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM

When someone you know well is going through some sort of grief or hardship, or even something happy - and perhaps a little stressful - such as bringing home a new addition, you might feel like you want to help in some way.

Christine Teldeschi

When someone you know well is going through some sort of grief or hardship, or even something happy - and perhaps a little stressful - such as bringing home a new addition, you might feel like you want to help in some way.

You can ease your friend's burden by gifting him or her with a meal.

Making a meal rather than buying a prepackaged entree pours more of yourself and your heart into the gift as well as thoughtfully saves your friend or their family a bit of time by helping them to relax in knowing dinner is taken care of.

When it comes to deciding upon the meal to gift, think of food of comfort that perhaps will provide the warm feeling of home.

For a friend recovering from cancer, I wanted to make two meals. For the first, I chose Chicken Enchiladas With Green Sauce.

For the second, I wanted to gift her something she had not tried before but was sure to be a hit, something inspired by my husband's Italian roots (Yes, Teldeschi - pronounced Tell-desk-key - is northern Italian): I chose a cheesy, meaty Baked Cavatappi.

Baked pasta is one of those casserole-type dishes where there's really no wrong ingredient and is based on taste. A northern version of pasta al forno is sometimes made with short pasta and a thick, meaty sauce layered with vegetables and cheeses.

Traditionally, baked pastas were meant to feed the masses. To help her during her recovery, my friend and her two daughters have her sister-in-law, who has a daughter with severe special needs.

Time to make a meal for the whole team might seem a little hard to find. Not to mention, these days, it's often hard to find time to feed your own.

Both dishes I selected can be made in large quantities so that you can set some aside or freeze them for you or anyone else later.